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Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Top Ten Books That Tackle Tough Issues

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created here at The Broke and the Bookish. This feature was created because we are particularly fond of lists here at The Broke and the Bookish. We'd love to share our lists with other bookish folks and would LOVE to see your top ten lists!

Each week we will post a new Top Ten list that one of our bloggers here at The Broke and the Bookish will answer. Everyone is welcome to join. All we ask is that you link back to The Broke and the Bookish on your own Top Ten Tuesday post AND add your name to the Linky widget so that everyone can check out other bloggers lists! If you don't have a blog, just post your answers as a comment. Have fun with it! It's a fun way to get to know your fellow bloggers.

Hey all! Jamie here. This week we are talking about top ten books that tackle tough issues!

1. Thirteen Reasons Why: I listed this book last week as a book that I think teens should read. Suicide is one of those really tough issues and this book really explores different sides of it and see the complexities for all in involved. I found myself experiencing a myriad of emotions while reading this.

2. Speak: Rape is never a comfortable thing to discuss nor read about but I think Laurie Halse Anderson really tackles the topic in a way that is still meaningful and helpful for teens but not overly in your face.

3. Where She Went: As I've talked about on my personal blog, I always have an emotional time reading books that deal with loss and grief but I really found this to be a great example of a YA book that handles that topic well. I loved If I Stay but I found Where She Went to be so much more complex and this easily became my favorite out of the two.

4. Crank: I went through a period of time where it seems like I was reading a lot of memoirs and books about drug addiction...I'm not even sure why. I actually haven't read too many teen books about addiction until I read this and wow...I couldn't put this down. Hopkins doesn't sugarcoat it at all and I found the fact that the novel was in verse to be quite effective.

5. Wasted: A Memoir: This memoir tackles the topic of anorexia and I felt ill reading it a lot of the time. I always seem to feel that way when I see pictures of anorexic celebs on the cover of tabloids or when I was doing a project about anorexia and saw websites and blogs devoted to helping each other be a better anorexic. I always just feel ill. This book was tough for me to read. It's been said that this book could be used by girls struggling with this as a "help" book because she goes into detail about how she used to hide it from people and other tricks along the way. Either way, this book was a tough read.

6. A Child Called It: I read this book in high school and it was such an emotional experience to read and has stuck with me since then. This book tackles the issue of child abuse and it was so so hard to read but it reminded me of how much we owe it to society to protect the voiceless among us. It's heartbreaking to know that it happens every day to an innocent child. I'm just thankful that people are actually doing something about it now...rather than keeping it hush hush like they did back in the day when nobody wanted to talk about it or get involved in another family's business.

I could only come up with 6 this week even though I KNOW I've read a lot more books that have dealt with tough issues. I was getting a little impatient with my computer because it keeps freezing a lot or else I'd scour my goodreads list for more books to add to this list! What are your picks?

I'm eager yet also a bit nervous about reading my copy of Thirteen Reasons Why. I've heard so many good things, but also that it's a very heart-wrenching story. Still I will read it, and I included Speak on my list, too. Excellent list. :)

This might be the very first time I've linked up that I don't have a single book in common with the picks posted! I guess I took a different spin on "tough issues". (Here's mine in case the linky doesn't come through.)

I've only read A Child Called It from your list (heard of the rest but never read) and I completely agree. That one stayed with me for a really long time and opens your eyes to a world you (hopefully) haven't seen.

I didn't join this week because the topic seemed really close to last week's and I figured I'd just repeat most of my books. But going through the linky, I see that it's actually very different and wish I had decided to do it, too. Great theme!

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